Singapore

Singapore (ⁱ/ˈsɪŋɡəpɔːr/), officially the Republic of Singapore, and often referred to as the Lion City, the Garden City, and the Red Dot, is a global city in Southeast Asia and the world's only island city-state. It lies one degree (137 km) north of the equator, at the southernmost tip of continental Asia and peninsular Malaysia, with Indonesia's Riau Islands to the south. Singapore's territory consists of the diamond-shaped main island and 62 islets. Since independence, extensive land reclamation has increased its total size by 23% (130 km²), and its greening policy has covered the densely populated island with tropical flora, parks and gardens.

The islands were settled from the second century AD by a series of local empires. In 1819, Sir Stamford Raffles founded modern Singapore as a trading post of the East India Company; after the company collapsed, the islands were ceded to Britain and became part of its Straits Settlements in 1826. During World War II, Singapore was occupied by Japan. It gained independence from Britain in 1963, by uniting with other former British territories to form Malaysia, but was expelled two years later over ideological differences. After early years of turbulence, and despite lacking natural resources and a hinterland, the nation developed rapidly as an Asian tiger economy, based on external trade and its human capital.

Singapore Airlines

Singapore Airlines Limited (SIA; SGX: C6L) is the flag carrier of Singapore with its hub at Changi Airport.

The Singapore Airlines group includes many airline-related subsidiaries: SIA Engineering Company handles maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) business across nine countries, with a portfolio of 27 joint ventures, including with Boeing and Rolls-Royce. Singapore Airlines Cargo operate SIA's freighter fleet and manages the cargo-hold capacity in SIA's passenger aircraft. It has three airlines subsidiaries: SilkAir operates regional flights to secondary cities, while Scoot and Tigerair operate in the low-cost carrier sector.

Singapore Airlines was the launch customer for the Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger aircraft. It ranks amongst the top 15 carriers worldwide in terms of revenue passenger kilometres, and 10th in the world for international passengers carried. On 15 December 2010, Singapore Airlines was named by the International Air Transport Association as the second largest airline in the world by market capitalisation, worth of 14 billion US dollars. Singapore Airlines utilises the Singapore Girl as its central figure in its corporate branding. The airline is also regarded as a Singaporean national symbol and icon.

Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur (/ˈkwɑːləˈlʊmpʊər/ or /-pər/; Malaysian pronunciation: [ˈkwalə ˈlumpʊr]) is the national capital and most populous global city in Malaysia. The city covers an area of 243 km² (94 sq mi) and has an estimated population of 1.6 million as of 2010.Greater Kuala Lumpur, covering similar area as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.5 million people as of 2012. It is among the fastest growing metropolitan regions in South-East Asia, in terms of population and economy.

Kuala Lumpur is the seat of the Parliament of Malaysia. The city was once home to the executive and judicial branches of the federal government, but they were moved to Putrajaya in early 1999. Some sections of the judiciary still remain in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur. The official residence of the Malaysian King, the Istana Negara, is also situated in Kuala Lumpur. Rated as an alpha world city, Kuala Lumpur is the cultural, financial and economic centre of Malaysia due to its position as the capital as well as being a key city. Kuala Lumpur is defined within the borders of the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur and is one of three Malaysian Federal Territories. It is an enclave within the state of Selangor, on the central west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Since the 1990s, the city has played host to many international sporting, political and cultural events including the 1998 Commonwealth Games and the Formula One Grand Prix. In addition, Kuala Lumpur is home to the tallest twin buildings in the world, the Petronas Twin Towers, which have become an iconic symbol of Malaysia's futuristic development.

Curtin University

Curtin University (a trademark of Curtin University of Technology) is an Australian public university based in Bentley, Perth, Western Australia. The University is named after the 14th Prime Minister of Australia, John Curtin, and is the largest university in Western Australia, with over 50,000 students (as of 2014).

Curtin was conferred University status after the legislation was passed by the State Government of Western Australia in 1986. Since then, the University has been expanding its presence and currently has campuses in Sydney, Singapore, and Sarawak. It has ties with 90 exchange universities in more than 20 countries. The University comprises five main faculties with over 95 specialists centres.

Curtin was awarded five-stars overall in the annual QS Stars university ratings for 2014. Curtin is ranked 284 by QS World University Rankings 2015. As of 2013, the University is also ranked in The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) as one of the top 500 world universities.

Smart Nation

Smart Nation is Singapore's national vision of using technology to improve lives and business. It takes its name and inspiration from the concept of a smart city taken to a countrywide scale.

Global

The Smart Nations Global Initiative, initiated by Dr. Azamat Abdoullaev gives an overview of the current developments on a global scale.

Singapore

The Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) aims for Singapore to be the first Smart Nation.

Singapore has set up a national-level coordinating agency, called the Smart Nation Programme Office, to lead its Smart Nation project. The Office is led by a cabinet minister, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Singapore's Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Singapore's Smart Nation concept builds on the achievements of its earlier Intelligent Nation 2015 masterplan.

Criticism

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References